Morrissett Funeral & Cremation Service will be conducting a special memorial service to honor those persons in our community whose remains have gone unclaimed.

Thursday, January 30, 12:00pm, at Centralia Cemetery, Morrissett Funeral & Cremation Service will be conducting a burial & memorial service for the unclaimed remains from Chesterfield County. The address for Centralia Cemetery is 10000 Hopkins Road, North Chesterfield, VA, 23237.

We believe that every individual should be treated with dignity, even in death. There are times, however, when an individual passes away and, for whatever reason, final arrangements are unable to be carried out. It is in such situations that Morrissett will help ensure they receive a proper farewell by periodically holding a memorial service for those individuals entrusted to our care.

During this time of blessing and remembrance their remains will be laid to rest in a space we have acquired. The names of each individual will be read and remembered.

The event was open to the public. We invite all members of our community join us and help ensure that the lives we are honoring will not be forgotten.

This is the first event of a year-long celebration of Morrissett’s 150th anniversary, and we will continue to hold an event each month throughout 2020. We view this as an opportunity to give back to our community, as well as show our appreciation for the continued trust shown to us by the families we serve.

Morrissett Funeral & Cremation Service will be delivering handmade Valentine’s cards to Veterans at McGuire VA Medical Center

As part of our continued efforts to give back to the community the staff of Morrissett Funeral & Cremation Service will be visiting McGuire VA Medical Center on Valentine’s Day. We will be delivering handmade Valentine’s Day cards created by local 5th grade students.

In January we provided craft supplies, such as construction paper, ribbon, glue sticks, & stickers, to the 5th grade classes at O.B. Gates, Beulah and Hopkins Road elementary schools. The students are using these materials to create cards to show their appreciation towards our honored Veterans. On Valentine’s Day the Morrissett staff will deliver their handiwork to the local VA Medical Center.

Each class was also given a white box to decorate and hold the Valentine’s cards. Once the cards have been delivered the boxes will be on display in our lobby for the public to see and vote upon. The winning class from each school will receive a $50-dollar Visa gift card.

This is our 3rd year spearheading the Valentines for Veterans program. We at Morrissett are grateful for the opportunity to help honor our Veterans. We are also proud of our local 5th grade students for their efforts to show the community’s gratitude to our Veterans for their service & sacrifices.

For more information about this event, or for pictures of the Valentines, please contact me at JBittner@morrissett.com or (804) 363-4854.

Thank you,
Jennifer Roberts Bittner
Certified Funeral Celebrant, Public Relations Contact

Due to current regulations and concerns of COVID-19, this event is being postponed. Please check back as a new date and time is to be determined.

Morrissett Life Celebration Funeral Home is celebrating National Caregiver Appreciation Day this March 3rd by giving back to the hospice caregivers in our area. Hospice caregivers are at an increased risk of emotional burnout because of their work with the terminally ill. In effort to ease their stress, we are partnering with Affordable Spa Services to provide much-needed relaxation to our local hospice workers at the various hospice units in our community. Affordable Spa Services will set up two chairs at the hospice locations during the caregivers break period and will give 15-minute massages. They will be set up to cover the evening shift and the day shifts.

Due to current regulations and concerns of COVID-19, this event is being postponed. Please check back as a new date and time is to be determined.

During our 150th year of service in 2020, we have chosen to expand our community outreach. For the month of April we will provide meals to the all the Chesterfield Fire and EMS personnel over the Easter weekend. This will include delivering to 24 stations and nearly 400 personals over the course of three days in order to make sure that all three shifts, A,B, &C are recognized. We want to remember these men and women not only for the daily sacrifice to their families when they are on shift, but for the 24/7 protection and safety they provide to us and all the citizens in Chesterfield.

When a loved one dies, the pain of grief is real, but no one needs to manage it alone. We can find spiritual and emotional support. Morrissett Life Celebration Home is committed to providing grief care for our community.

On Easter Sunday April 12, 2020, Morrissett Life Celebration Home will hold it’s second annual Sunrise Remembrance Service. The service will be held from 6:00-6:30 am on the Morrissett grounds where we will celebrate the Resurrection of Christ with singing and a brief message of hope by our Director of Aftercare and Community Care Greg Webber. The service will include the lighting of luminaries to honor loved ones who are no longer with us. Coffee and breakfast snacks will be available immediately following the service.

The 6:00 Sunrise Service is an inclusive service designed for all to attend our early service as well as their local church Easter service.

Memorial Day is a day to remember the ones who have died serving in the American armed forces. In honoring and remember those individuals, Morrissett Funeral Home & Cremation Service will be hosting “Movie with a Solider”, showing of the movie “The Unknowns” A documentary about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Sentinels who stand guard at our Nation’s most sacred shrine 24/7. In addition to the showing of the movie, we will have a special guest visit with a former Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Light movie themed refreshments will be served. Check back for time and date as May approaches!

The Teacher Appreciation program consists of Morrissett Funeral and Cremation Service partnering with Meadowbrook High School in order to provide tents and lunch for the 200 plus Teachers and Faculty at the school. Morrissett has been doing this event since 2010. The purpose of this project is two-fold. The primary purpose is to send a little relaxation and joy to the Teachers and Faculty at the high school. The secondary purpose is to develop a stronger bond between our Funeral Home and the Educators who do so much for our community.

We have been working with the American Red Cross, to facilitate a community blood drive. The projected date for this is June 26, 2020 from 2-7 pm here at the funeral home. Giving blood can sometimes be a scary thing but the importance of it is huge. One blood donor can save up to 3 lives! Donating blood takes approximately 1 hour from start to finish (the actual donation and needle part is only about 8 to 10 mins). It’s amazing that 1 hour of your time can have such a tremendous impact on the lives of others. What a way to give back. Our blood drive preparation will be done in phases as we get closer to the date but the first and most important phase is this one, GETTING REGISTERED DONERS! Without donors, we cannot have a blood drive. Your gift of blood may help up to three people. Donated red blood cells do not last forever. They have a shelf-life of up to 42 days. A healthy donor may donate every 56 days.

There is also a blood donor app for both Apple and Android devices. It is highly recommended that anyone willing to be a donor, download the app as it will help them keep tract of their appointment time and other useful information. The app is not just for the blood drive, they can use it for any time they may donate after that as well. The link with the directions for the app is https://www.redcrossblood.org/blood-donor-app.html.

Our target goal for this blood drive is 150 donors! I With the help of all of you, we can meet and possibly even exceed our goal! Thank you all in advance for your help in recruitment and look forward to seeing you all at the blood drive.

We will also have representatives from Lifenet to answer any questions and sign up anyone that is interested in organ and tissue donation, which can help save or improve the life of several people.

CANCELED

Sock Drive & Sock Hop Wednesday, July 15, 2020 6pm-8pm

Starting in July of 2020 Morrissett Funeral and Cremation Service will be collecting new pairs of socks for the homeless in our community and surrounding area. Socks are the number one requested and needed item for those who are homeless. Why are socks so important? For many reasons! Frostbite can occur within 30 minutes or less in cold conditions and in warm conditions; wet socks breed bacteria. When walking barefoot, feet are exposed to possible injury, infection, and pain. This problem is also exacerbated for homeless individuals who are diabetic. Foot health is very important and can be as lifesaving as insulin! One simple blister can lead to infection. We need healthy socks! Join us in reaching our goal of collecting 150 pairs of clean, new socks! Travel size toiletries are also being collected to fill the socks. Donation boxes will be located in the front lobby of the funeral home. Donations will be collected from July through October.

The Sock Hop will be held at the funeral home to encourage donations. A fun filled evening of music and family games. Invitees will be asked to donate a clean, new pair of socks as admission. Snacks will be provided. More information to come!

In the month of August, Morrissett Life Celebration Funeral Home is partnering with Comfort Zone Camp.

Comfort Zone Camp takes the traditional 3-day overnight camp program and offers children in grief, ages 7-17, a safe and fun environment to connect with their peers and learn coping skills at no cost to the family. Campers are matched one-on-one with a Big Buddy adult mentor who provides encouragement and support throughout the weekend. All volunteers are thoroughly screened and must submit to background checks and 6 hours of training. Morrissett will be sponsoring meals for the trainees and campers during the month of August.

CANCELED

Morrissett wants to raise suicide awareness all month and earn sponosorship for a 5k awareness walk in October! The projected date is October 10, 2020. The event will take place in Fredericksburg, VA.

We as funeral directors see first-hand the impact that suicide has on our community. We would like to raise awareness and work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to help lower suicide rates. Our goal is to have a sponsorship of a Morrissett Team to go participate in the walk and raise $150 per Morrissett participant.

If you would like to be a part of our team or sponsor a director, please feel free to reach out.

CANCELED

As you know October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and here at Morrissett we hold that near and dear to our hearts. We offer our services for families who have lost a child of any age for free or at cost, hoping to take some of the stress off their shoulders. This year we are celebrating our 150th year anniversary and have goals to help the community every month in different ways. We have helped sponsor an event put on by Fetal Infant Loss Community Outreach program (FILCO) held at Southside Regional Medical Center last year and are looking to participate again. We are also looking to work along with Star Legacy Foundation in sponsoring an event as well, they are also known for the awareness and research towards infant loss. We look forward to the participation and getting out there to let everyone know we are there to help in any way we can.

Morrissett Funeral and Cremation Service is proud to be a sponsor of the second annual Chesterfield County Halloween Trunk or Treat Event which will held at the Chesterfield County Fairground from 6pm-9pm. Morrissett sponsors a booth to hand out Halloween candy, bottled water and other flair items to over 10,000 event participants. Morrissett also provided two antique style specialty hearses decorated in Halloween sprit for guests to visually enjoy. Morrissett was proud to be a part of this community event and we look forward to future participation.

People with dementia can feel agitated or anxious at times, and some of the calming benefits of spending time with a pet can also be experienced with stuffed animals. A stuffed animal can also give a person with dementia a chance to nurture and care for something else, which stimulates positive emotions and can increase overall happiness. The staff at Morrissett Funeral & Cremation Service understands the importance of a pet, they currently have Peace, a therapy dog and Hope, a therapy pup in training. They are reaching out to Lucy Corr Village and The Crossings at Iron Bridge, two local nursing facilities with specialized dementia care to provide them with stuffed animals for their residence under the care for dementia. Morrissett will also make special trips with Peace & Hope to bring some additional comfort to the residents.

With COVID-19 restrictions, please check back at a later date to verify the details of this event

Morrissett Funeral and Cremation Service participated in Wreaths Across America Day 2019. This national program strives to place a memorial wreath on the graves of our nation’s fallen military veterans. The purpose of this endeavor was to demonstrate our firm’s appreciation for the men and women of the United States military and to their families in our community many of whom we served throughout the year. Morrissett Funeral and Cremation Service partnered with Wreath Across America and our Community Events coordinator Joseph Diman served as Wreaths Across America location coordinator to help obtain and place Wreaths at the Virginia Veteran’s Cemetery located in Amelia, Virginia. Morrissett engaged in fundraising to help purchase wreaths in addition to organizing and hosting an escort motorcycle ride from our location to the cemetery with the assistance of the Patriot Guard and local law enforcement. Morrissett also sponsored and placed an additional 100 wreaths, one for every veteran that our funeral home served in 2019. Following the noon ceremony our staff assisted other volunteers with the wreath laying. Through our involvement and the support of our friends and local businesses, we were able to place over 4,000 wreaths at the cemetery and in doing so were able to place a wreath on every interred hero’s place of rest. We are very proud of this historic accomplishment as it has never been done before in the history of the cemetery. Next year we hope to raise the funds for an additional 500 wreaths to account for upcoming internments and again adorn every hero’s place of rest.

For many, Christmas is a time of joy and togetherness. However, many of our soldiers are unable to make it home to be with their families for the holidays. The staff at Morrissett, for our 5th straight year, will be filling stockings for these soldiers to send a little brightness, and to let them know that we appreciate and support their sacrifice. We will be reaching out to local churches and organizations to ask for their help in this task. The staff at Morrissett are incredibly grateful for the strong men and women that serve our country and wanted to give back anyway we could. This past Christmas Season, with the help of local churches in our community we were able to fill over 300 stockings to donate to the USO at Fort Lee.

Morrissett Funeral and Cremation Service was proud to sponsor the second annual Chesterfield Law Enforcement Appreciation Meal. The event was held on Christmas day from 5pm to 8pm at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #47 and allowed for citizen volunteers and off duty personnel to serve a holiday meal to all on duty members of the Chesterfield law enforcement community. We successfully provided food to 150+ police officers, sheriff’s deputies and emergency communication personnel. Our firm is dedicated to serving the members of our law enforcement community and we appreciate all first responders for their selfless service to our county. We are currently making plans to offer this again on Christmas day 2020.